


Seven Kilos: Side Stories

by kurafloro



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Gen, Health Issues, Hospitals, Hurt Lee Jeno, Hurt/Comfort, Lee Jeno-centric, Neglect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:06:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23276806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurafloro/pseuds/kurafloro
Summary: They love their jobs as idols, but not everything is always as it seems. Underneath the surface lies a darker reality to their everyday lives; they push themselves to the very limit to do what they love, but the industry is not always as passionate to them in return.A short collection of stories based on  Anonymous_Introvert78’s Seven Kilograms.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung & Lee Jeno, Lee Jeno & NCT Dream Ensemble
Comments: 9
Kudos: 88





	Seven Kilos: Side Stories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anonymous_Introvert78](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Introvert78/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Seven Kilograms](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22418050) by [Anonymous_Introvert78](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Introvert78/pseuds/Anonymous_Introvert78). 



> So this is my expansion on the incredible work, Seven Kilograms. If you haven’t read it, check it out immediately, it’s amazing. Their writing is always so heartfelt and touching, and 7 kilos is a perfect example.
> 
> This is an exploration of some of the stories of the people mentioned in that fic. I have two chapters planned out, but let me know if you wanna see more. This work is unbetaed, so my bad if there are any major mistakes. Enjoy!

Jeno is cold. 

Actually, to be more accurate, Jeno is fucking _freezing._ He’s been outside on this music video set for almost three hours now, filming on and off, and he’s only wearing a tank top and a sheer over shirt. He coughs at the sensation of a particularly strong blast of wind. Why the stylist has him in this beyond him, considering it’s literally below zero today, and Renjun and Donghyuck get to wear big ass coats. 

He’s finally given a break as they start filming some of Chenle’s solo shots, and he takes the chance to put on his jacket and grab some hot chocolate to try and restore circulation in his fingers. He heads into the trailer to enjoy the heating inside, sitting down to catch his breath. He’s probably been sitting down for thirty seconds before one of the makeup noonas is dragging him to her station, presumably to touch him up.

“Jeno, your setting powder’s all but gone. I might even have to redo your foundation.” She grabs his cheek critically. “I’m going to have to touch up your contour too. You’ve gained weight in your face.”

“Noona, I’ve been in the wind all day, of course the powder wasn’t going to hold!” He doesn’t even touch the remark about his weight; he knows better. “You guys chose such a windy day to film anyway.”

“Well I don’t like being out here either, Jeno. It’s just as cold for me as it is for you.” At the reminder of the temperature, Jeno takes another sip of his hot chocolate, and the makeup noona sees the contents of his cup before he puts it back down. “Is that hot chocolate? If you’ve been drinking that all winter, of course you’d gain weight!”

“Noona… I’m just cold, and I don’t like drinking coffee.”

“Well that doesn’t mean you have to drink _chocolate_. I’ll recommend you this barley tea my cousin swears by; she’s lost three kilos in the last two month, and she looks as slim as ever!”

Jeno’s temporarily muffled from answering her by the makeup brushes busily patting powder onto his face. “I don’t think one cup for this cold shoot is going to do all that much, Noona.” 

“Well, every little bit helps. They want you to have a grown up look for this comeback, and there’s only so much contour and photoshop can do. Now close your eyes!” Jeno closes them obediently at her request and thinks about how weirdly pushy she’s being about his weight. He knew about their concept, obviously, but he hasn’t seen anything about them having to lose weight. The hyungs told the Dreamies to tell them if anything weird was happening, especially with what happened with Johnny and Donghyuck over the last 127 comeback, but since it’s only this one noona, he won’t say anything. He doesn’t want to worry them over what’s probably nothing, after all.

\---------------------------------------------

Jeno’s cold _again._

At least this time he’s indoors, preparing for one of their promotional photoshoots. He’s in the dressing room, which is ridiculously well ventilated, and he can’t fit into his pants. It’s strange, since the stylists took their measurements like a week ago, and he’s pretty sure he hasn’t gained any weight since then. 

He pops his head inside Jaemin’s dressing room to see if anybody else is having the same issue, and he screams like one of those chicken chew toys, which is kind of funny, actually. “Relax, it’s just me.”

Jaemin thankfully stops screaming before one of the staff comes over to check on them. “Oh. Why’d you decide to scare me like that, you maniac?”

“I was just checking to see if your clothes for the shoot fit?” 

“Yeah, why? Didn’t they take our measurements like yesterday?”

“That’s what I thought, but my pants are like, half a size too small.” Jeno pulls up his shirt to show him.

“Huh, that’s weird, mine fit perfectly.” Jaemin’s pants fit exactly right, with the two fingers they need for mobility built right in. “I wonder if they made a mistake taking measurements?”

“Probably. I’m gonna go check with Jisung to make sure.” 

“You go do that; this way I’ll be shoot ready first.”

“No way, dude. You still have hair and makeup, and all I have to do is get changed and touch up my hair.” Jeno chuckles at Jaemin’s swearing; he definitely forgot. Jeno ducks back into the changing area to put his sweatpants back on, since he can’t button the ones he’s supposed to be wearing for the shoot, before venturing into the ready room to see if he can find Jisung.

He spies Jisung’s tree-like figure among the stylist noonas swarming around and makes a beeline over to his side. “Jisung, hey, what’s up?”

“What do you want, hyung?” Yikes, the maknae’s irritated. It might be because of the stress of the photoshoot, or the time of the day, but Jeno has the feeling it’s more than that. He makes a note to ask Jisung about it later before getting back on track. 

“Oh yeah! I wanted to ask you if all of your clothes fit. Especially your pants?”

“Yeah, everything fit fine, hyung.” Jisung squints at him suspiciously; they’ve all been hypervigilant about weight problems since the scare with Chenle. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing! I’m just about to go visit the stylist noona, and I wanted to make sure all of your clothes fit so I could tell her she could take a break.” Why… did he lie? He almost never lies to his members; it’s part of the reason he loses at games so much. So why didn’t he tell Jisung the truth? It’s not like it’s his fault the stylist made a mistake. Jeno chalks it up to trying to protect Jisung's fragile mood before setting off to find the stylist noona, pants in hand.

“Noona! Noona! Please wait up!” She turns around impatiently and waits for him to catch up to her. 

“Do you need something, Jeno?” He comes to a stop, clutching his knees and breathing hard; he can’t quite seem to catch his breath. “Please go ahead and tell me. I’m a little busy right now, and you’re wasting my time.”

Now that Jeno’s here, he can’t seem to get the words out. It’s stupid though, it’s just a measurement malfunction, so he pushes through. “Noona, my pants don’t fit. They’re a little bit too small and I can’t button them up.”

She eyes him skeptically, gesturing at him to follow her into her workstation. “Give them to me, let me measure the waistband.” He hands the pants over silently. “Hmm, this matches the measurement I have written down for you perfectly. Pull your shirt up, I’m going to take new measurements for your waist.”

Jeno holds perfectly still and resists the urge to suck in his stomach. “I thought it might be a mistake in the measurements from last week?”

“I have made no mistake in taking your measurements. For you to suggest that is unprofessional, considering everyone else’s clothes are tailored perfectly.” Jeno drops his head, appropriately chastised by her words as she begins to look for a way to fix the problem. “In fact, these pants would have fit you perfectly eight days ago when we took those measurements.”

“Are you saying that I gained two whole centimeters on my waist in eight days?!”

“I agree that it sounds absurd, but the problem doesn’t lie on this end. All I can think of is that your body dimensions have changed.” Jeno feels his cheeks heat up in shame. He hadn’t thought he had gained weight, since the managers weighed them every two weeks, but maybe the stress of the comeback was getting to him. He always tended to eat when he got stressed, but he usually worked it all away.

“I’m sorry for causing you that inconvenience, Noona. Is there anything I can do?”

“Wait there while I try to find you a solution. I can’t let out any waistline, because that was tailor cut to your dimensions, so…” While the stylist attempts to find him new pants, Jeno thinks back to the makeup noona from the MV shoot. Had she been right about him gaining weight? Whatever, he’d weigh himself when they got back to the dorm. “Ok, these pants were Johnny’s before, but they should fit in the waist. Go try them on and come back here so I can pin and sew the hems and darts. Quickly!”

Jeno leaves her area and speedwalks to the changing rooms, almost running over Jaemin on the way, who looks at his sweatpants before crowing in triumph. “Dude, there’s no way you’re getting your solo shots first. Look, I’m already all done with makeup, loser.”

“Yeah, yeah, ok.” Jeno strides past him to get on his way, but something in his voice must tip Jaemin off. He grabs Jeno’s arm, pulls him to face him, and looks into his eyes, searching; Jeno can’t bear to see his concern and yanks his arm away. “I’m fine, I promise, I’m just stressed about my outfit.”

He brushes off Jaemin’s offer to talk later in favor of making it to the dressing room, where he can change into his new pants in solitary. The stylist is right: they fit perfectly in his waist, almost as if they’re tailored just to his measurements, but the hems drag on the ground when he walks. He knows Johnny is almost ten centimeters taller than him, and he’s always been more muscular than Jeno. For them to be the same waist size… maybe Jeno really _has_ been getting bigger.

Jeno heads back to the stylist, passing the ready room on the way. He peeks in to see the rest of his group chatting before their turn for solo pictures; no one else is having these problems. Jeno refuses to be ashamed of his situation, but it does sting a bit, being separated from the rest of them like this.

The stylist looks positively panicked by the time he gets back to her workstation. “What took you so long? Hurry up and come here so I can start making alterations!” Jeno puts his arms up and tries not to feel too uncomfortable at the sensation of her hands on his body. “Huh, I thought I would have to take in the waist a couple of centimeters, but it looks like it fits you fine.”

The reminder of his waist relative to Johnny’s hits him like a truck, and he suddenly stops fidgeting. He knows he’s not supposed to compare himself to others, but he just can’t help it, when the comparison’s right there to make. At the very least, the others don’t know about what’s happening, so he won’t have to deal with their misguided concern.

God, Jeno’s exhausted, bogged down by both the breath in his lungs, and the weight of his own inadequacy. He just wants to go back to the dorms, make himself some hot chocolate, and get some rest. Although, if today has taught him anything, maybe he should really be going to bed hungry.

\---------------------------------------------

A shiver runs down Jeno’s spine.

They’re in a company meeting room for an update on the status of the comeback, since the stage is in three weeks. It’s rather disconcerting to be in the same room as everyone who’s been up their asses lately: their main stylist, their dance instructor, and all three of their managers, among others.

“You all know the concept for this comeback is becoming grown up, right?” Jeno coughs wetly into his elbow and looks around in confusion; why are the managers bringing this up now? “As you’ve probably noticed, each of you is representing a different aspect of being adults. Renjun and Donghyuck are money, Chenle and Jisung are work, and Jeno and Jaemin are supposed to be sex appeal.” They all nod; they were all briefed on the nature of this comeback over two months ago, and it would be pretty hard to forget such a massive departure in concept.

“Well, we’ve run into a bit of a problem, and it concerns you specifically, Jeno.” Jeno can’t really think of anything that he might have done to create a problem, except--

“I’m sure you’re already aware of some of the problems we’ve encountered due to your wardrobe.” All of his members' heads turn to him, and Jeno resolutely doesn’t meet any of their eyes as he nods.

“We’ve noticed that you always put on fat during the winter, and we were initially fine with it, since you’re always covered up. But for this comeback, you’ll most likely be shirtless or barely covered for most of the stages to amplify your sex appeal. We need you to look fitter in order to pull off the concept.” 

The stylist speaks next. “I put him in a tank top for the MV filming to try and cover some of it up, but after editing, we decided that just the sheer over shirt was necessary for the airy aesthetic. I think it’ll be fine if he can lose about a centimeter in his waist.”

“The creative director wants this to happen before he reshoots some of your solo MV scenes, which is scheduled for about ten days from now.” 

“That’s crazy! There’s no way he’s gonna lose it that fast. Are you _trying_ to kill him?” The manager narrows his eyes at Donghyuck in warning.

“It is what it is. We also need him to fit that ‘sexy’ image by the comeback stages. This means I’ll be measuring your waist along with your weight everyday after dance practice and that you will be required to attend workout sessions. The goal is to take in your waist at least two centimeters, and to have defined abs by the stages; that gives you three weeks. Do you understand, Jeno.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

“Now that that’s out of the way, we can proceed with the schedules for the next…” Jeno drifts away as the meeting continues, caught up in the embarrassment of being called out like that in front of so many people. It seems like every comeback, management wants one of them to do something drastic so that they can sell their bodies a little better.

Jeno knows that if the hyungs find out, they’re going to be furious. With the incident with Johnny and Donghyuck a few months ago, everyone’s been overly concerned with any type of disordered eating, and on the lookout for any kind of directive from the management for them to lose or gain weight. Jeno knows that it’s unlikely that he’ll avoid scrutiny from his members, but he really doesn’t want to place more burdens on their shoulders, especially with the ongoing situation with Ten.

He only tunes back into reality when they arrive back at the dorms and start arguing about what to do. “I’m gonna call the hyungs. They can’t do this to you, they’re talking about you like you’re just a piece of meat!” Donghyuck’s already pulling out his phone, ready to text Taeil.

Jeno wheezes as they come in from the cold and sits on the couch, trying to catch his breath. “No, Dong-- Donghyuck! It’s not-- not that serious.”

“Is it really ‘not that serious’? Because they want you to do this to yourself, and for what? For some crazy netizens to drool over your body? It’s ridiculous!”

Jeno tips his head back to get more air in his lungs. “I know-- I know it is, but they’re not even ma-- making me lose any weight! I’ll be fine!”

“How can you say you’ll be fine!” That’s Jisung, who looks equal parts angry and terrified. “How can you say that after what happened to Chenle?”

Everyone turns to the boy in question, who opens his eyes from where he’s leaning on Jaemin. “It’s fine. I’m fine now, it’s ok to talk about it.” He turns to Jeno. “And Jisung’s right, we need to at least tell the hyungs. I don’t want any of you to have to go through what I went through.”

Jeno looks around the living room at his members before swallowing his protests. This isn’t a fight he’s going to win, but when he sees the way they’re looking at him, he just wants to scream that he’s not that delicate, that SM’s not even putting him on a diet, that they can stop treating him like a baby who can’t handle his own business.

At the very least, he’s not going to have to deal with _all_ of his hyungs, with their overbearing concern; Mark and Taeyong are overseas for some Super-M promotion. It’ll probably just be Taeil, who he can handle, except when the doorbell rings--

“We’re here!” That’s Doyoung. 

“Hurry up and let us in, it’s cold as shit!” And that’s Johnny.

Great, literally everyone that Jeno doesn’t want to see right now is piling into their dorm. They even brought Kun, who’s not supposed to be seen in public with them. “Hi hyungs. Is that food?”

“Yup! I brought you some from the WayV dorm. Xiaojun says hi, by the way.” Kun busies himself in the kitchen putting the food away so they can reheat it later. 

“Tell him I said hi too. What are you guys all doing here?” Jeno turns his attention back to the living room, where his other hyungs are sitting on the couch, looking at him with a mixture of disappointment and concern.

Johnny speaks first. “I don’t know Jeno, you tell me. Taeil got a text from Donghyuck saying you were having an issue with the management and were planning on keeping it a secret from us. You do know why it’s so important that you tell us this stuff, right?” 

“Yeah, I know, hyung. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. I just have to lose two centimeters in my waist and get my abs to show by the comeback.”

“You know that’s unreasonable, right?”

“I know, but there’s not much I can do. They just want me to attend mandatory workout sessions, I don’t think it’ll be too bad.”

Taeil interjects. “Jeno, you know you’re not fat right?”

“Of course I know that, hyung. SM’s just wants to sell my body, like they wanted to for Johnny and Taeyong.”

“And you know how to moderate yourself? It’s better to miss the weight goal by a little than end up in the hospital because you’re so thin your body’s shutting down.” Johnny looks a little harried, probably remembering sitting in the hospital watching Ten’s malnourished body fight for his life.

“Hyung, I promise I’ll be fine. They’re not even making me diet like they did for you, I just have to exercise more. It’ll probably be good for my health, anyways.” Jeno just wants them to leave, he’ll say anything to get them to leave.

His hyungs reluctantly stand to start to gather their stuff to go; they have to head back to their own dorms eventually. Doyoung pauses to sit on the couch next to him for a more private conversation. “Hey, Jeno. Do you want me to stay the night with you in the dorms?”

“It’s alright, hyung, I’ll be ok.”

“Are you sure?” Doyoung forces eye contact until Jeno nods. He pulls him into a hug to mumble into his hair. “I love you so much, Jeno. And I’ll never love you any less than I do now, no matter what happens, no matter what you look like. I’ll always be here for you, ok?”

Doyoung waits until he hears Jeno’s muffled ok before he lets go. He picks up his stuff before walking over to Johnny, who’s waiting in the entrance of the dorm. “Jeno, remember you can call us if you need _anything_.”

“Seriously, hyung, I’m fine.” He ushers them out the door, closing it on their looks of concern before taking a deep, wheezing breath.

He’s got it under control. Everything’s ok. Jeno’s going to be fine.

\---------------------------------------------

God, it’s so fucking cold in here.

The SM building is very well air conditioned, as most expensive buildings tend to be. In the summer, it’s a godsend, keeping them from melting into the flooring during long dance practices, but in the winter, the cold temperature inside the building just serves as a reminder of the freezing weather outside.

There’s a reason he avoids going to the gym in the winter. Part of it is because the styling for winter comebacks is never revealing, and no one’s going to see his body anyway; it’s better to spend his free time playing games with Jisung or lazing around watching dramas with Donghyuck. The other part is that Jeno’s always done really badly in the cold, especially when he’s exercising. The dance practices are enough for his lungs to attempt to rebel, but he can usually manage those on their own.

All that aside, he’s on his third hour in the gym now, thanks to some asinine “sexy” concept, clutching at his throat and trying to take deep breaths while the trainer claps him on the back. “Jeno, kid, this isn’t like you. You’re usually right on top of the reps, pick it up!”

“I know, hyu-- I, know, hyung. But c-- can we-- can we take a break? Ple- Please?”

“You know what I always say about breaks, especially in the middle of a set.”

“Pain is weak-- weakness leaving the b- body. But hyung, it doesn’t-- it doesn’t just hurt, I c-- I can’t b- breathe.”

“Alright, ok, we’ll take five. Can’t have you dying on me, after all. Get some water, and be ready to finish the whole workout when I get back.”

Ok, so maybe everything isn’t going as perfectly as Jeno thought it would; he hasn’t made it through a single workout without having to take a breather, and he’s getting increasingly out of breath just from their thirty second dash from the van to the dorms. If his lungs were rebelling before, now they’re on the verge of a revolution.

Other than that though, he’s fine. Everything’s going great and fine and he’s feeling perfect. Except for the fact that now it’s not just the workouts, and he can’t even make it through a dance practice without collapsing in a fit of wheezing, and now he’s coughing up blood streaked mucus onto the floor of the practice room. 

Chenle and Renjun are on the floor next to him, rubbing his back and trying to get him to sit up and take deep breaths. Donghyuck is on his phone, no doubt busy updating the hyungs, and Jisung hovers uselessly, flailing. Jaemin, the idiot that he is, is across the room arguing with the manager.

“I won’t allow him to take a break. You of all people should know that nothing can get in the way of the success of this comeback, Jaemin.”

Jaemin flinches at the mention of his own injury, but soldiers on for Jeno’s sake. “But he can’t breathe! Surely you can see that!”

“If he can’t make it through a practice like this, there’s no way he’s fit to perform. It’s either he stands up and continues with this practice, or he’s cut from all the comeback promotions.”

“That’s ridiculous! It would only take us like, an hour to bring him to an urgent care! Please!” Jaemin’s resorted to begging, as the manager looms over him and leans into his space.

“I’ve always been fairly lenient, especially when dealing with you younger kids. I’ve never been cruel, and I only punish you when you’ve been doing things wrong. But right now, your arguments are delaying practice.”

“I understand, but I really think something’s wrong with him, and--” 

All the activity in the room ceases as Jeno struggles to stand up and starts speaking. “Don’t-- don’t worry-- worry about it, I can-- I can get through prac-- practice.”

“Don’t be stupid, you can barely even talk!”

“Renj-- Renjun, don’t let them-- don’t let them take this away-- away from me. I’ll sur-- I’ll survive.”

The rest of his group mates’ faces screw up in protest, but they know that once Jeno’s agreed to the manager’s demands, there’s not much else they can do. 

Donghyuck steadies him as he stumbles back into his beginning position, and leans in to whisper to him. “I know you want to do well in this comeback, so I haven’t told the hyungs the full picture. But if it gets any worse…”

“It wo-- It won’t. I have it un-- under control.”

\---------------------------------------------

Jeno is so cold he’s turning numb.

He’s back outside again, at that stupid MV reshoot, this time without the tank top underneath this gauze to keep him warm. His members had been adamantly opposed to him going, especially with what had happened the day before, but they all knew that if he didn’t, he risked being cut from the comeback altogether. He’d promised to be careful, but in the end, he didn’t have much say about what happened to his own body.

He’s been doing his best so far, putting on his overcoat between every take and covering his mouth and nose with a scarf, but it’s been almost an hour, and he’s starting to lose his breath.

He looks up to see that the director is beckoning him over to the other half of the set, where he’s supposed to be filming his weird dance movements. Jeno starts to worry, because he’s wheezing a little, and he’s basically been sitting and standing still since the beginning of the shoot, and now he has to move around fairly vigorously. 

It doesn’t matter anyway. If he can get this scene done in one or two takes, he can head back to the dorm and warm up before dance practice later today. 

“Again!”

“Again, please!”

“Once more!”

“Alright, one more take should do it!”

“Ple-- please, I need to-- need to take a b-- break.” The director’s irritation flashes on his face at the interruption, but he pauses and nods once he sees Jeno, hands on his knees, panting and wheezing in the winter air. Jeno stumbles away as soon as he gets the affirmative, pushing his way into the trailer to try and get to warmth.

It’s never been this bad before. He’s sitting up straight and breathing through his nose and taking deep breaths, but he’s still wheezing and panting. It feels like someone’s squeezing his lungs tighter with every breath, and he’s starting to get dizzy. He realizes abruptly that if he doesn’t get help, he’s going to pass out, and the ensuing panic sends him falling to his hands and knees.

Clawing at his throat, he crawls his way over to his phone, trying to get a hold of someone, anyone. He barely even has the presence of mind to know who he’s calling, but he’s so relieved to see Doyoung pick up the call.

“Hyu-- hyung?........... I ca-- I can’t-- I can’t breath……….. Hyung-- Hyung, I-- I need-- need help……..”

“Jeno, is that you? What’s wrong? Where are you?” Jeno can feel his vision narrowing and his focus slipping away.

“Too co-- Too cold…………….. Can’t-- ….. can’t ….. bre-- breathe………………… Hy-- hyung…… please-- …. pl--please………………..…”

\---------------------------------------------

_Permanent lung damage._ The phrase turns over and over in Doyoung’s head from where he’s sitting in the kitchen of the Dream dorm. Receiving that phone call from Jeno, wheezing and choking and begging for help, had been one of the most terrifying experiences of Doyoung’s life. And it was only made worse by the helplessness he’d felt; his vocal coach wouldn’t let him out of practice early, so he’d had to rely on updates from the Dreamies’ manager to know whether his precious little brother was even alive. 

By the time he’d arrived at the hospital, Jeno was stabilized. Apparently, the doctor had been waiting for him to arrive before telling everyone about what happened, but all Doyoung could think about was seeing Jeno in that bed with the oxygen mask over his face.

He’s startled from his trance by the other Dreamies busting in the door, all shouting over each other to try to find out what’s going on. He shushes them desperately. “Shhhhh, you’re going to wake him up! Sit down on the couch and I’ll tell you guys what happened.”

The dreamies settle in on the couch around Doyoung with wide eyes, waiting for him to deliver the news. “First, I’ll say this. He’s going to be ok. He’s stable, and there’s nothing major wrong with him.”

They relax, clearly relieved, but also puzzled. “What do you mean nothing major? He was coughing up blood! He went to the hospital!” 

Doyoung whips around to look at Jisung. “He was coughing up _what?_ ” He looks around at the rest of them, who all shift guiltily and avoid eye contact. “Is one of you going to answer me?”

It’s Donghyuck who finally opens his mouth. “I’m sorry; I should have told you. It’s just… the manager said if he didn’t finish all the practices and shoots he would be pulled from the comeback, and I knew you guys would do something if you found out. I didn’t think-- I didn’t think he’d end up in the hospital!” By the end of it, Donghyuck’s started to cry. “It’s my fault he got so sick, I should have said something!”

The other kids rush to comfort him, attempting to share in the blame, but Doyoung cuts them off. “It’s not any of your faults. It’s not Jeno’s fault for keeping it from us, or even the hyungs’ fault for not noticing. Actually, like a lot of our problems, this is SM’s fault.”

The Dreamies sit in silence, urging Doyoung to continue. “Jeno passed out because his airways weren’t working well enough for him to get air into his lungs and oxygen into his blood, and the doctors had to give him steroids and oxygen. He probably has permanent lung damage, and they’re estimating he’ll only retain around 60-70% of his full lung function. He’s going in for a CT scan in two days so they can see the extent of the damage.”

Donghyuck is just about to burst into tears again, and Jaemin and Chenle don’t look far behind. Doyoung interrupts them before they can even start their pity party.

“Listen to me! All of this happened because Jeno has asthma.” They’re so shocked, and it’s obvious what they’re thinking: _all this from asthma?_ “Yeah, I know. He doesn’t even have severe asthma. It’s easily diagnosable and easily treatable, and this never should have happened.” 

“Then what does the company have to do with it? Jeno never mentioned anything about asthma, so I don’t even think _he_ knew.”

“That’s the thing, when the doctor looked at Jeno’s file, it said he had childhood asthma, and he was on medication for it up until his medical care was entrusted to SM. As far as we can figure out, as he got older, his symptoms lessened up, and he went to the doctors to get a new prescription back when he first signed. Apparently someone thought the inhaler would ‘ruin his image’ and told him he didn’t need it anymore.”

Renjun furrows his brow. “Wait… That’s medical malpractice, what the fuck?”

“It is, but that’s not all. You know how he’s been on that workout regime for the comeback? He’s got exercise induced asthma, and the winter cold was making it so much worse. If management hadn’t forced him to slim down so much, it never would have gotten this bad.”

“That’s all they do, make us do things that they know are going to hurt us, and for what? I just know they’re going to blame him for anything that goes wrong with the comeback.” It’s Chenle, personally angry, and rightfully so.

“Actually, since he’s been prescribed new medication, he’s technically cleared to join you all for the comeback.” He holds up a hand to stop their protests. “I know it seems crazy, because he was just in the hospital, but as long as he takes his meds, he should be fine. He put himself through all of that so he could do this comeback with you, so don’t look down on his effort like that.”

“I just… our comeback is in like ten days, and I don’t want him to get even more h--”

“Guys?” Everyone whips around at the sound of Jeno emerging from his room, relief clearly evident on their faces. It’s one thing to hear from Doyoung that he’s fine, but it means something else to see Jeno himself, walking and talking and _breathing_ like nothing’s wrong.

Jisung bounds up to him, initiating a rare hug. “Hyung, I heard you get to stay with us for the comeback! I’m so happy you’re ok.”

Jaemin is the next to join their fast growing puppy pile. “Yeah, that must have been scary as fuck. Do you need anything right now?”

Even Renjun allows himself to get swept in. “Just let us know if we need to carry around inhalers or anything for you, ok?”

“You guys…” Jeno lets out a hiccup, sending them all into a frenzy.

“Are you ok?” “Do you need your medicine?” “Doyoung, Jeno’s getting sick again!”

Jeno puts up his hands, stopping them in their tracks. He’s sniffling, true, but they’re tears of joy. “No, I’m just, I’m glad you’re here.”

Doyoung watches these kids and how they swarm around Jeno, loving and supporting him, and for the first time in a while, he feels hopeful about their future.

_Yeah, these kids are going to be alright._

**Author's Note:**

> I’m pretty happy with how this turned out, and I hope I did justice to the source material. I have a rough plan for one more member’s chapter in my head, but I don’t really know apart from that. Is that something you’d wanna see?
> 
> Leave a comment with a suggestion or concrit, or even just a keysmash!


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